Abdominal pain in children: an emergency practitioner's guide.

Children suffer from dozens of etiologies of abdominal pain. Diseases manifest themselves differently in children than in adults, and vary even within childhood age groups. Physicians must tailor examination styles to maximize information obtained from the history and physical examination. Extra-abdominal causes of pain as well as recurrent causes must be considered. Patients with undiagnosed abdominal pain should be reexamined within 24 hours. Pain lasting more than several hours may represent a serious problem.